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Sunday, October 16, 2011

I have what is called hyperparathyroid. It has nothing to do with the thyroid other than the parathyroids are 4 glands located behind the thyroid. Hyperparathyroid means I have at a tumor on at least one of my parathyroid glands. This tumor is almost alway benign. The usual serum PTH levels for parathyroids is 10-65* so if it is above 65 you might have hyperthyroidism. Mine is 252. (see chart below)

One of the website that I found says this: "When patients have PTH levels above 200 it is because their tumor is very old (usually this means over 10-12 years old) and the tumor is composed of MANY cells. If your PTH level is over 200, then some doctor somewhere was asleep at the wheel. This should not be allowed to happen, and the amount of destruction to your body is generally worse." * Wow do I know this!

Bones hurt; typically it's bones in the legs and arms but can be most bones.

Don't sleep like you used to. Wake up in middle of night. Trouble getting to sleep.

Tired during the day and frequently feel like you want a nap.

Spouse claims you are more irritable and harder to get along with (cranky, bitchy).

Forget simple things that you used to remember very easily (worsening memory).

Gastric acid reflux; heartburn; GERD.

Decrease in sex drive.

Thinning hair (predominately in middle aged females on the front part of the scalp).

Kidney Stones.

High Blood Pressure (sometimes mild, sometimes quite severe; up and down a lot).

Recurrent Headaches (usually patients under the age of 40).

Heart Palpitations (arrhythmias). Typically atrial arrhythmias.

Most people with hyperparathyroidism will have 4 - 6 of these symptoms. Some will have lots of them. A few people will say they don't have any... but after an operation they will often say otherwise. 95% of people with hyperparathyroidism will have 3 or more of these symptoms. In general, the longer you have hyperparathyroidism, the more symptoms you will develop.Click here for a cartoon of the symptoms. While this is a funny cartoon remember hyperparathyroidism is not a joke is it serious and causes life changes. Take care.

I am in shock. I just got my records from my last visit to the "specialist" and the results of some of my blood work, and I will now always get copies. I just found out that this problem that I have may go back as far as 10-12 years. That surgery can fix the many problems cause by the problem some in just hours after the surgery and others within 4-6 months. But the biggest thing is that my headaches, bone aches, fatigue, brain fog, high blood pressure, and just the general feeling not quite right could soon be a thing of the past.

So I urge you all - take charge of your health. get copies of tests and doctors notes. and be the squeaky wheel. Good luck.

I am now starting to look forward in a different way to Chalica this year. I am hoping that I will have had my surgery and will be starting a "new life". I will be doing some more writing, as we get closer to Chalica.

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Happy Chalica!

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Some ideas

What a workshop would look like to:Linda Tolladay I suppose it might begin with an explanation of the reasons for a UU holiday, what gave the idea for chalica, why the time of year was chosen -- the sort of thing explained last winter on the page as folks kept asking. Then it might be participatory as folks who had celebrated shared their stories or folks thinking of celebrating brainstormed ideas for celebrations around each of the principles. You might end up with almost a little booklet of ideas for each principle.

evan austin November 29, 2008 at 3:36pmyes, perhaps the best lesson now is that they're part of a still-living movement! even uua.org doesn't really feature anything about Chalica, although uuidentity.com has a small article saying it started on Facebook in '07 (i think/hope there's more to it than that).